1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a packaging cushion device, more particularly to a packaging cushion device for the protection of corners of an article.
2. Description of the Related Art
Articles, for instance, electronic articles such as central processing unit, and displays, are vulnerable to damage when subjected to squeezing, pressing or impacting forces. In order to minimize damage caused to such articles during transport from a manufacturing end to a user end, cushioning materials, such as Styrofoam® and sponge, are utilized to space the articles from walls of packaging boxes, such as cardboard boxes and plastic boxes. As such, the articles will not hit against the packaging boxes, and a buffering effect can be produced when the packaging boxes are subjected to external forces. The function of protecting the article can therefore be achieved.
Generally, the shape and size of an article are fixed after the manufacture thereof is finished. Therefore, a cushioning material for packaging the article must have a structure and size that are fixed in accordance with the shape of the article. However, due to different needs in application, some products are designed to have configurations and sizes that can be varied from a manufacturing end to a final user end. In that case, the fixed-type cushioning materials are unable to accommodate different configurations of such products.
Take a computer device as an example. The hardware of a computer device includes a motherboard, electronic cards, a power source, etc., in addition to a computer housing. As a current way of commercializing computer devices, various component parts of computer devices may be offered by different manufacturers. Therefore, the computer device may be assembled by an upstream assembly factory, a wholesaler, or a retailer, and may also be assembled by the user himself/themselves. When a computer housing has not been assembled with other hardware, it is hollow. In order to reduce the volume of a computer housing prior to assembly with other hardware that will occupy space upon transport, there has been provided a computer housing with a modular or foldable design by which the computer housing can be laid flat, thereby decreasing the volume of the computer housing and reducing transportation costs. Because a computer device may be assembled by an upstream assembly factory or a retailer, during assembly of the computer device, the computer housing needs to be assembled or unfolded to form a space for containing other hardware, and after assembly of the computer device, the computer housing has to be packed once again so as to be transported to the end user. Therefore, the computer housing must undergo packaging two times when delivered from an original manufacturer to a place of assembly and then to the end user after assembly. If a cushioning device having an invariable shape is used for packaging such a foldable computer housing, it cannot accommodate both the folded and unfolded configurations of the foldable computer housing.
FIG. 1 shows a typical computer housing 91 associated with cushioning members 92, 93. The cushioning members 92, 93 are generally made of Styrofoam®, and are provided with structures matching the shapes of the front and rear sides 911, 912 of the computer housing 91 so as to cover corners at the front and rear sides 911, 912 and to protect the computer housing 91. However, the cushioning members 92, 93 having invariable shape cannot fit a folded flat configuration of a foldable computer housing.
As mentioned above, when an article has a variable configuration, a cushioning device having a fixed shape cannot satisfy packaging requirements for different configurations of the article.